Western Province T20 Knockout Captain, Wayne Parnell, has his leadership style on lock and relishes the opportunity to lead the side in the first competition of the season, writes Ongama Gcwabe.

Having burst into the limelight in 2008 as a leading wicket taker at the under-19 World Cup of that same year, Parnell was also captain of that talented team, a team which included natural born leaders like JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, and Pieter Malan.

It was two years earlier where Parnell took everyone by surprise and became the “most talked about cricketer to hit the first-class scene for some time” according to an article published by ESPN cricinfo back in 2008. He did so with a hatrick against Western Province in his fifth first-class match for Eastern Province at a tender age of 17.

Now at 32, Parnell makes a comeback into South African Cricket structures as a mature cricketer in his prime. He comes back with experience having played all around the world with and against some of the best cricketers in world cricket.

Western Province Cricket have entrusted the all-rounder with the responsibility to lead the side in a season opening T20 competition.

“From a leadership perspective, I’ve always seen myself as a leader,” said Parnell in a pre-tournament press conference held virtually on Wednesday 22 September.

“Even though I haven’t had the official title, I’ve always seen myself as a leader within the squad.”

The most common mistake people make upon appointment into a position of leadership is to grow an ego and start ordering people around as they please.

Parnell emphasized that he is not one of those people to micromanage but that he encourages an environment where people feel free to express themselves.

“I don’t want to tell people what to do. You want to give people the freedom to grow at their own pace. My role, having played all around the world and having played with some of the best cricketers in the world, is to try give little nuggets here and there.

“I want guys to take responsibility for their own games. I don’t want the coach and the captain to be telling people – ‘this is how you have to play. This is how you have to go about things.’

“So ultimately that’s where my leadership style is going to be, not to impose myself but to assist people. I think that’s the biggest thing. I want people to have freedom to express themselves. We want to get to a level where everyone is enjoying their cricket again,” he added.

SA Cricket’s new domestic structure will be put into test from Friday 25th September, only time will tell how good a structure it is, specifically for SA cricket.

Parnell spoke briefly about giving this fresh start to SA Cricket a chance to see how it pans out,

“We have to give it a couple of seasons to see if it works. I certainly think, especially for the youngsters growing up, because you end up playing for your province through the age groups, and then you play in a franchise team that’s merged with [players from] other provinces.

“This does kind of give it a sense of – ‘when I graduate past the under 19 level, that’s the team I want to play for.’ So from that perspective maybe it does makes it better for the youngsters, it gives them a clearer path as to where they want to play.

Western Province have been placed in a tough pool which includes a star-studded Imperial Lions outfit, Northern Cape Heat and Six Gun Grill SWD.

This means that Division One teams will compete against second division teams only in this T20 competition for the season.

“I think it’s good to have the crossover because there are a lot of guys that were at franchise teams who now unfortunately ended up at second division teams but who are still good cricketers.

“I think it gives them an opportunity to showcase their talent and skills. Who knows? With the MSL I think we might be able to grasp one or two of those guys into the squad as well.”

The skipper also identified the importance of adopting a “positive” brand of cricket in T20 cricket more especially since WP will be up against some serious talent in Pool A.

“A really positive brand, that’s been my message to the guys. Certainly I’ve played enough cricket to realize that people drop catches, people get whacked when they bowl, those are just the things that happen on the particular day.

“But if the attitude is right, if the attitude is positive, we’ve trained, we’ve prepared well, I can’t fault anyone for having a bad day. I will certainly be hard in people for not having the right attitude, for not coming to the game in the right mental space. Other than that, my message is clear, just be positive.

Western Province take on the Imperial Lions at The Oval, Kimberly on Friday 24 September.